August 9, 2013

I've just finished reading a wonderful book,The Quarter-Acre Farm: How I Kept the Patio, Lost the Lawn, and Fed My Family for a Year by Spring Warren, 2011.
I'm hoping to read more from this witty and informative writer. The book reads very much like a blog/journal with each chapter a new conquest in home farming. The recipes are amazing, and her recount of the geese, the bunnies and the kids is hilarious. Some of her garden antics are so funny they had me laughing out loud.

I was so inspired by her story I immediately started weeding out my own veggie garden. Only a few years ago it was a lovely patch of fenced in gravel and antique brick-bordered beds of homemade compost, flowers, and vegetables galore.

2010

2010

It has since fallen way way to the wayside.

2013

I've only gotten half way through the weeds and haven't even begun to tackle the actual beds, but being able to see the gravel again is reassuring!

Even if I can't grow anything edible in my garden of weeds, I still took a couple of cues from Ms. Warren this week. Instead of letting the beautiful organic peppers I spent an arm and a leg for in Shoprite rot away in the refrigerator drawer, I decided to cut them up and pack them in the freezer. I also indulged in incredible homemade sun dried tomatoes. Every crispy juicy sweet and savory bite was well worth having to heat up the house all day with the oven for! While I was at it I roasted some sweet potatoes and zucchini with breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.

My trip to the Manahawkin Farmer's Market this morning sealed the deal that we need more good stuff like this in the world. I may not be ripping out the front lawn yet, but I felt darn good about spending my last $12 in support of the real farmers around here...

"It is six A.M., and I am working. I am absent-minded, reckless, heedless of social obligations, etc...The tire goes flat, the tooth falls out, there will be a hundred meals without mustard. The poem gets written... I have no shame. Neither do I have guilt. My responsibility is not to the ordinary, or the timely. It does not include mustard, or teeth. It does not extend to the lost button, or the beans in the pot. My loyalty is to the inner vision, whenever and howsoever it may arrive."Excerpt from Mary Oliver's essay Of Power And Time